Skip to main content

Mattel DC Retro Action Batman

 



Late in 2020, I went back through The Toys That Made Us series on Netflix and the Star Trek episode took some time to really dig into the history of Mego. Many of the toys I played with growing up or have collected are technically before my time but Mego was WAY before my time. I always kind of had a general idea of the toys, mainly thanks to Robot Chicken, but something about the presentation of the episode really gave me an itch to try this type of toyline out.

I decided to get just one figure, to try it out. If I didn't like them, no big deal, not a lot of time/money wasted. My favorite superhero is Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern/Ion) and I remembered that Matty Collector had a Mego-like brand for a few years. A google search later and I found a Kyle Rayner figure for $10! Perfect. I could hardly ask for a better price for making a trial run. A week later, the figure arrived and I loved it. They had an entire sub series of GL's that I bought and some other items but that is for a different blog. However, this was my entry into Megoish figures.

I decided to go back into Mego to find a Batman. This was pretty tricky because I wanted to find a Batman that would be my 'definitive' version of the character. For me, Batman exists somewhere between the way he was reimagined by Dennis O'neal and Neal Adams, the Filmation Cartoon, and the 1966 Batman series. Specifically, the Batman we see in the Jose Luis Garcia Lopez style guide.


Looking around at choices of Batman, the answer was pretty tricky. Mego, recently returned, has produced a Batman, but it reflects the modern style.


Figures Toy Company produced a few Batmans. They remade the original Mego Batman and produced versions for the Superfriends, the New Adventures of Batman, the 1966 Batman, and even their take on the Neal Adams Batman.






None of these really called to me. The closest had to be the Neal Adams inspired FTC figure but it still didn't really resonate. Then I remembered the DC Retro Action line from Matty Collector. This was exactly the figure I wanted but the first run of this line had floppy waists and the rest of the run had slightly floppy legs. Then I also remembered that ClassicTVToys.com was selling a new S Type body. The body used actual plastic articulation joints instead of bands. I decided to buy Batman and the S Type body. If I couldn't get the Mattel body to work, I could just throw it all on the S Type body.








As soon as Batman arrived, I popped him apart and rebanded him. It worked, and he was not longer floppy! However, the S Typy body had also arrived and it offered better points of articulation.



The Mattel body had way better muscle definition but the S type offered bicep swivel. I went with the S Type. I ended up giving the rebanded body to my Kyle Rayner, who is happy to no longer have floppy legs.

Judge for yourselves if I made the right decision.



You can find the DC Retro Action Batman on Ebay in the $20 price range.

You can buy the S Type body from Classic TV Toys

Look for some more 8" figure posts from me soon!














Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Will It Motu or Notu? Schleich Big Knights Castle

Schleich has been around for quite while. They specialize in super detailed animals and fantasy creatures. More recently, they have been adding figurines and now "action figures". These toys are all pretty awesome and are in a 3 3/4 scale, like Star Wars and G.I. Joe. They have been making playsets and dioramas, as well, and a few of them really caught my eye. Since I have been on a vintage MOTU binge, my mind immediately began trying to figure out just how well these playsets would scale with my toys. I asked sellers on Amazon.com who responded negatively, but it didn't sit well with me. Being a toy collector for as long as I have been, my mind has become pretty adept at this. Many of you, I'm sure, can say the same. I decided to reach out on He-Man.org. Nobody was negative on it but they weren't really sure either. One member, Barbecue17, had the playset I was thinking about and had covered it on his blog, which you can check out here -  http://www.actionfig

Toy Biz DC Superheroes - Flash, Wonder Woman, Robin, Riddler, and the Penguin

Toy Biz's DC and Marvel Superheroes lines were my first comic book toys growing up and I loved them! For DC, I had Superman, Luthor, Batman, Robin, Joker, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, and the Riddler. For Marvel, I had Spider-man, the Punisher, Captain America, the Hulk, Deathlok, Human Torch, Doctor Octopus, Venom, and Silver Surfer. Now, these were not the best toys by any stretch of the imagination. They were very gimmicky and cheap, especially the DC line. A lot of the issues were straightened out for Marvel. With all of that in mind, these toys still hold a special place in my nostalgic heart. Unfortunately, most of my figures broke, were lost or their paint wore away, so I decided to get back in on the line. Ebay, my ever present nemesis and vice, had a lot of carded figures that I was able to snag for $37. Not a bad start by any means of the imagination. All of the cards had some water damage and Wonder Woman's bubble had some yellowing but the figures themselves were in g

Mega Bloks Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2016 - Lord Zedd and Custom Squatt

So, 29 Blind Bags later, I completed the official collection with Lord Zedd. I've really enjoyed this series. Sure it is not the most detailed or articulated but there is just a certain fun factor that radiates from these figures. And now that it is complete, my focus has turned to what customs I can create. I've already posted about Rita Repulsa. By Zedd, she looks pretty great. Now I've added another custom with Squatt. It was challenging finding which lego pieces would best reflect the character. Here are my current Evil Space Alien leaders. I still have a few more in the works.

Flash Gordon

  Flash Gordon. For many of us, seeing that name evokes the imagery, sounds, and energy of the fantastically over the top 1980 film. The bright colors. The Queen Soundtrack. Brian Blessed's Vultan's booming and jovial voice. This was my introduction to the franchise as well. It's an amazing film that still entertains as much today as it hoped to do back then. In fact, the film stuck with me so much that it pushed me to look further back into the history of Flash Gordon. "If this was the 'campy version', what was it really like?" Digging deeper, I found the 1970's Filmation series AND their hidden film. I say hidden because it has yet to be re released outside of a Japanese Laserdisc copy that some kind soul uploaded to Youtube. This was a great series that included more of the Flash Gordon world than the 1980's film. I especially love this incarnation of Thun, the Prince of the Lion Men. And of of course, Bob Ridgely's voice stands way out with